THE LAST WORD
Hammond’s impact will be remembered
I
f anyone was going to beat cancer, it was Jay Hammond. He had so much to live for. Like the wrestlers he chronicled, followed and greatly respected, Hammond was a fighter.
That was evident in his Facebook post on Halloween: After spending 20 of the last 30 days in the hospital, I hope I
am home for a long time. No one knows how long I will last, but all the calls and emails from wrestling fans and friends are the best medicine. I certainly plan to be around for the 2014 NCAA tournament. Sadly, he won’t make it. Well-known and well-respected as one of the sport’s premier historians, Jairus K. Hammond lost his battle with cancer on Nov. 12. He was 69 years old. One of Hammond’s great legacies will be the comprehensive,
380-page book he authored in 2006 – “The History of Collegiate Wrestling: A Century of Wrestling Excellence.” The book is a virtual encyclopedia and includes numerous
short features on many of the outstanding collegiate wrestlers in U.S. history – from standouts like Dan Hodge and Dan Gable to the Schultz brothers, the Smith family and Cael Sanderson. Hammond was fiercely loyal to his beloved Lehigh University
and that was clearly evident in his final Facebook post just 10 days before his death: Wins by Mason Beckman and Joey Napoli in All-Star Classic
make this old grad feel much better! Maybe I am a good luck talisman!
Hammond covered Lehigh wrestling as sports editor for the
school newspaper and also served as a radio broadcaster for Lehigh at the NCAA tournament. Hammond was a valuable contributor to the sport while serv- ing as a historian for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and
during the NCAA Championships. He developed numerous wrestling databases that chroni- cled the sport’s history. He also served as president of the National Wrestling Media Association. He won numerous national writing awards. Even though he was unable to attend the 2013 NCAA tourna-
Craig Sesker
ment, he followed the event closely on television and online. When Cornell’s Kyle Dake became the first wrestler to win
four NCAA titles in four different weight classes, Hammond post- ed this gem on Twitter on March 23: Let’s petition the NCAA to grant Dake a fifth year so that he
can move to 184 and wrestle Ruth next season. Hammond was of course talking about two-time NCAA cham-
pion Ed Ruth of Penn State, who is seeking his third straight title this season. Hammond worked on Wall Street and also as a computer pro- grammer, but wrestling was his main passion. Award-winning author Jamie Moffatt, who has written numer-
ous books on wrestling, flew down to Florida and spent a day in the hospital with Hammond shortly before his death. “I have a very heavy heart,” Moffatt said. “Jay was very down- to-earth, but he also was exceptionally bright. There was no arrogance or ego to him at all.” During his final weeks in the hospital, Hammond received
phone calls from Gable, Dake and Olympic champion Randy Lewis along with Lehigh coaches and wrestlers. “I know that meant a great deal to Jay and that really boosted
his spirits,” Moffatt said. “That just shows you right there what the wrestling family is all about. Wrestlers are really special peo- ple and that’s what Jay loved so much about the sport.”
42 USA Wrestler
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